Six-year-olds have a great perspective on life. They're too young to have the inhibitions that have been programmed into the rest of us. There is one particular little six-year-old I especially admire. Rather than publishing her real name on the internet, I'll call her Penelope. Yesterday morning, I was discussing the Christmas story with my Sunday morning group of first-graders in our "Power Cell" session. There are details we adults tend to skim over, forgetting that young ones need a little explanation. I asked the kids if they knew what a "manger" is. In the assortment of guesses and blank looks, I realized they didn't know, so I told them, "It's like a trough for feeding animals...cows and donkeys eat hay out of a manger." Penelope had a sudden epiphany, "Do you mean they laid Baby Jesus in animal spit?" She was outraged! It was a good teaching moment though - to illustrate the humility of His birth.
The previous week when we first started talking about the birth of Jesus, I tried to explain to the kids that He existed before he was born on earth. I told them that Jesus is God and that he chose to come and be born as a man. Penelope, who always asks the best questions, inquired, "When was God born?" To which I responded, "God has no beginning and no end. He made everything there is and He has always existed." Penelope smacked both her palms on her forehead in amazement. "No wonder my friend at school doesn't believe in Him - that's pretty hard to believe!"
Several weeks ago, in the large group session, the teacher was using a recipe as an illustration of how the Body of Christ (the Church) has many members, doing different things, but with a common purpose. Penelope, who was sitting next to me, looked up at me and asked, "What the heck does baking brownies have to do with Jesus?" I promised her I'd explain it when we went to our group session.
Penelope is a young Christian. Not long ago, one of our pastors was visiting her home to talk to her about accepting Christ as her Savior. After he had explained everything, he asked, "Is that something you would like to do?" She was incredulous, "Why wouldn't I?" she asked. Penelope is a smart girl. She knows only a fool would decline such an invitation.
I always get such a kick out of Penelope's comment, I think I'll make them a regular feature on my blog. I would hate to let them go to waste.
